Back To You
by Savantasaurus
Summary: With one sentence Elliot and Olivia's partnership goes out the window.  Can it be fixed?  Definite EO.  Written for a challenge on LiveJournal.


Everyone in the precinct could hear them coming from a mile away. By this point in time, no one, not even Elliot Stabler or Olivia Benson, cared what the fight was about in the first place. Truth be told, they'd both forgotten by now. 

"I can't believe you! This isn't how a _partner_ should act!"

"Yeah? Well maybe we shouldn't be partners anymore then!"

Olivia was taken aback. She stood there, eyes wide, a look of hurt and disgust on her face.

"What?"

"You heard me!"

"So that's it? You're just going to throw all of this away?"

He couldn't find anything to say to that. He just stood in place in front of her and crossed his arms.

"Screw you, Elliot," she said, and stormed off.

He narrowed his eyes as he watched her leave. "Screw you, too!" he yelled after her. '_Yeah, nice one_,' he thought to himself. He turned around to go to his desk and found himself face to face with Munch and Fin. "What the hell are you two lookin' at?" he spat, and, not waiting for a reply pushed past them, furious and in a hurry to get home.

* * *

Several hours later, Olivia was jarred out of a not-so-deep-and-pleasant sleep by her door buzzer. She forced her eyes open and glanced at the clock next to her bed. The glaring red numbers shouted _3:48a_ at her. She closed her eyes again, hoping the noise would stop so she could get back to sleep.

No such luck. Four more buzzes.

"Persistent asshole," she muttered, and groggily slung herself out of bed. She plodded out of her bedroom and to the door, and pressed the callback button on the callbox. "Yes?" she asked, her voice breaking mid-word. She figured it was some drunk neighbor who forgot his keys, and was ready to lay into him for waking her up.

"Liv?"

"Elliot? What are you doing? It's almost four o' clock in the morning."

"I know, sorry. Just≈" A pause. "Let me up."

"Elliot..."

"Come on, Liv. Please."

He didn't sound angry anymore. In fact, he sounded like he was in worse shape than she was. Rolling her eyes, she pushed the button to unlock the entrance door. A few short moments later there was a knock at the door. Olivia didn't bother to unhook the chain lock; she pulled the door open the few inches it would go and brought her eyes up to meet her partner's. Or was he her _former_ partner at this point? Did it matter? No. She was still mad as hell. Several minutes went by before either of them said anything. The tension was getting to be too much for Elliot.

"Can we talk?"

His question was met with more silence.

He ran a hand through his hair and let out a heavy sigh. "Olivia, please."

Olivia shut the door enough to pull the chain lock, then opened the door fully. She noticed his eyes were bloodshot. She wondered why. It could have been from drinking, lack of sleep, or crying. Hell, maybe even all three. As mad as she was at him, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. It wasn't her fault this whole thing had happened in the first place, but she certainly wasn't making it any better. She leaned her body against the doorjamb and crossed her arms against her stomach.

Elliot swallowed, then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he said.

Sorry? A simple apology wasn't going to cut it this time. Olivia raised her eyebrows at the statement, encouraging him to continue.

"I didn't mean that we shouldn't be partners. I'd _never_ mean it."

Olivia turned her eyes down to the floor.

"Liv, you're the best thing I've got right now. I can't lose you. I want to fix this. I _need_ to fix this."

Olivia took a shaky breath. "I don't know if we can fix it this time," she said, thinking back to their previous fights.

"Don't say that."

"El..."

"Please."

Olivia shook her head. "I can't do this."

"What do you mean you 'can't do this?' Can't do this now? Ever?"

She shrugged slightly. "I don't know."

"You don't know." Elliot nodded. "Alright." He forced a smile.

"Elliot, I jus-"

"I'm going home. Goodnight," he said, then turned and started towards the stairs without waiting for her to finish.

Olivia watched him leave but didn't say anything to bring him back. She just shut her apartment door, put her back against it, and slid down to the floor. Her throat burned and she tried to blink back the tears she knew were coming, but it was only a matter of seconds before she found herself wrapping her arms around her legs and burying her head in her knees. Before she even began to think about how much she didn't want to cry over him she was sobbing, damning him, herself, and the job that got them into this mess.

Several minutes passed before she finally pulled her head up and rested it back on the door. Her mind ran through the conversation that had just taken place. She didn't know how to do it, but of course she _wanted_ to fix everything. She wanted them to be okay. She wanted to be his partner, his best friend, his-

'_No_,' she thought. '_Don't even finish that sentence_.'

She had to do something. Apologize for the way she acted? Maybe, maybe not. She stood up and grabbed her phone off a nearby table. Elliot's number was the first one she had on speed dial.

One ring. Two. Three.

"Come on, Elliot, pick up."

One more before his voicemail picked up. She hung up. Giving her partner's phone enough time to get through its voicemail message, she dialed again. This time it rang just once before going to the familiar message.

"Damn it."

She set her phone back down and grabbed her car keys off of the table. She didn't even bother looking at the time before slipping on a pair of flipflops and rushing out the door.

* * *

Elliot didn't care that he hadn't slept, didn't care what time it was, and didn't care if he made it into work that morning. He was lying on the couch with his arms folded across his chest, staring at the ceiling above him when he heard a car pull up in front of the house long-since deserted by Kathy and the kids. Of course they had "tried making it work," but it didn't last. His biggest fear now was that he and Olivia would end up the same way. Lying to each other and themselves that they would be alright; that everything would go back to normal. '_What the hell have I done_?'

He heard a knock at the door.

Liv. It had to be. He quickly rolled himself off the couch and practically ran to the door. Upon opening it he found exactly who he was hoping to find.

She stood there in front of him, still in her pajamas, hair disheveled, and eyes red. She gave him a sincere smile. "Hey," she said.

"Hey."

For the second time that night they stood in silence in a doorway, eyes locked on each other, neither knowing what to say first. Olivia took the chance first.

"Elliot, I'm-"

Before she had the chance to finish saying 'I'm sorry' she found herself wrapped in Elliot's arms, his mouth on hers. She didn't even have to think about what to do. Instinctively her arms came up and wrapped themselves around his neck, pulling him as close as she could. Years of pent-up frustration and desire spilled out in an instant. What seemed like an eternity of sheer bliss passed before Elliot broke the kiss and pulled away.

"Are we okay?"

Olivia nodded. "We're okay."

Elliot opened his mouth to say something, but this time is was she who interrupted with another kiss. Without breaking it, Elliot pulled her into the house and shut the door behind them.

Yeah. They were definitely okay now.


End file.
